Your Attention Please

My little girl Tory is so funny! One day she was trying to get my attention while I was studying. As I sat at my desk working on the assignments of the day she stood at my side doing what she usually does when she needs my attention, starting with the usual "daaaad", she said, and with no response that was satisfactory to her from myself she repeats a little louder, "daaaaaaaaaaad!" Still into my studies but hearing her cries I still didn't give her my undivided attention so she emphatically responds with a louder "DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!" "What is it honey", I replied. "You aren't listening to me dad," Tory says. I then tell her that I did hear her all along I just couldn't reply to her right away as I was in the middle of an assignment.

Sometimes it seems that in our spiritual lives God has to do the same thing with us to get our attention. He calls and we hear but don't listen, or worse yet we just flat out ignore Him. Take the case of Jonah for instance, in Jonah 1 we see that God calls Jonah to go to Nineveh to deliver a message to the Ninevites. Jonah says no way and instead heads the opposite direction. He then boards a boat in Joppa and heads out to sea. That's where the attention getting gets louder like the second time Tory tries to call me. But it would seem God's mission to gain attention from those He is trying to talk to is two fold at this time. The sailors of the boat were depicted as pirates, so we can believe that they weren't the best of people either. Isn't it interesting to see how God put Jonah on that particular boat. I mean here he is running from the mission of telling the Ninevites of their need to turn from their evil ways, yet he boards a ship with these sailors who could possibly be just as evil. Maybe God's plan is to get the attention of the sailors as well. After all one could presume that God has tried to get these sailors to change their lives too. They set out to sea, the sailors to make a few bucks, perhaps rob Jonah of whatever else they could get, and Jonah to run from God. Then God goes to work, GUUUUUUUUUUYYYYYSSSS!!!, God might be saying, you all need to turn away from your wickedness, yes you too Jonah, and turn back to Me. As God is saying this with a sense of loudness His Mighty Breath, (rauch) begins to stir the sea and the sea begins to toss and turn the men and the boat about the sea. The sailors attention is stirred as they are well versed in the ways of the seas and become seriously concerned about the stormy seas, so much so that they begin to lighten their load by throwing whatever they could overboard. Still Jonah's attention hasn't been caught yet as he lies below deck sleeping. Finally at what could be perceived as the shouting part of the attention getting Jonah is awakened by the excited and frightened sailors. In an effort to lighten the load even more they decide one of them must go, so they draw straws and Jonah gets the short one. It is now that Jonah's attention is seemingly caught, at least to some degree. The sailors interrogate him as to what his history is and as they finally agree that Jonah is the cause it would seem that now their attention is caught. As they prepare to send Jonah over the side the sailors ask the Lord not to hold Jonah's death against them as they are doing only what has been suggested of Jonah. It was after they had completed the tossing of Jonah overboard that the sea became calm and it was then that the sailors made their lives right with God.

So in this story God used the sailors to get Jonah's attention and get him on his way back to Nineveh and He used Jonah to get the attention of the sailors as in their time of distress they finally figured out that their gods were useless in times of trouble and the God of Jonah, the God of Abraham was the only true God and vowed to serve only Him. Sometimes in our own lives God uses others to try and get our attention as well. God may take something or someone away from a situation despite their dedication and committment to follow Him, just in an effort to try and reach another; possibly a family member, a close friend, a spouse, a teacher, it could be anyone that God wants us to minister to and that we probably have ministered to. It could be someone who boldly rejects the truth of the Lord, even as we give testamony to it in our daily lives, yet through the rejection the seed has been planted and God may take a needed alternative approach to bring these people the rest of the way. No! That doesn't mean that God inflicts pain on us to get His point across. The pain we feel is the end result of a personal decision made by ourselves. Like the sailors, these people most likely know the way they just continue to reject it, and like the sailors when the toughest of times come what God will they really see results with?

So has God been trying to get your attention? Is He past the subtle approach and working on the more direct and loud approach? Are you hearing like I was with Tory, just not responding? If a family member or a friend is hurting it could be for you. Now's the time to see what God wants for your life. Do it now and relieve the suffering whether it is your own or someone elses. Are you Jonah, or do you know the sailors?

If you would like prayer email me at pastor@ussnaz.org. You can remain anonymous but I would love to help you be more attentive to what God has for your life.